There is no shortage of articles talking about the importance of branding. This is particularly true of companies. All the big companies we are familiar with have a specific brand that influences their logo, colors, and image portrayed to consumers.
But what about your personal brand?
Personal branding is important for freelance writing. As a freelance writer, you don’t have a formal business. You are your business.
Your brand has a similar influence on consumers as branding for standard businesses: it portrays what you want to consumers. And it does so quickly and without requiring extensive research.
Since you are conveying information about yourself via your personal brand, you want something that is unique and makes you stand out. At the same time, you need a brand that appeals to your target audience.
But how do you go about this?
Brand for the Right Reasons
Establishing a personal brand is important for many people, but not everyone. As a freelancer, it’s important. As a bookkeeper working for a company, not so much.
If you are here, you’re likely a freelancer or part of a business. For the latter, don’t worry about personal branding and focus on business branding instead. For the former, think long and hard about why you want a personal brand. Then, think long and hard about your own skills and professional goals.
You want a brand that aligns your current status with your future goals. Highlight the skills you have. But don’t forgo where you want to go.
Keep in mind that your personal brand is fluid. As your skills develop, your brand may change. So change it to better reflect who you are now.
And don’t be scared about asking others for help. If you cannot figure out what sorts of writing you excel at, or the exact skills you possess, then ask someone. Colleagues, friends, and family all see you from an outside perspective. This gives them unique insight into yourself that might otherwise go unseen.
Keep It Focused
When you create a personal brand, make sure you focus it on particular aspects of yourself. Don’t create a brand that highlights your skills as an artist, creative writer, and non-creative writer all at once. Create different brands for different things.
For myself, I have a couple different brands that I’m establishing at the moment. There is my professional brand as a freelance writer, along with a brand for By The Explorer, an adventure blog I’m building that includes photography from places I visit. I’ve also got Hermit Moose Creations, another brand that I keep focused on art and crochet.
Having multiple brands keeps things focused. Rather than appealing to multiple target audiences, you appeal to one per brand. As a result, you see more potential customers drawn in because the focus of your brand helps you better target a specific audience.
Be Real
As you develop a brand, remember that it reflects your voice. People like voices that are honest, not voices telling them what they want to hear. Be honest about what you are good at, what you aren’t, and be genuinely you.
You think people aren’t interested in your self-described-weird personality, but I promise you, they are. As long as it truly is you. People will love you when you love yourself and display confidence in your personality.
Your brand must reflect your genuine nature. But don’t lose track of the purpose of your brand, either. Let’s say you are making a professional brand, like I’ve done for freelancing. Be honest about the story you convey with your brand while staying professional.
For some, this seems contradictory. How can you be real with your brand when you are keeping it focused on specific aspects of yourself?
You do it by being honest about what you are showing to customers. There is a time and place for everything. The same is true about branding. Don’t worry about not displaying absolutely everything via your brand. Instead, make sure what you are showing is true to who you are.
Remain Consistent
Fortunately, staying consistent with your personal brand is easy as long as you are truthful. It does still require some attention, though.
Regularly check in with yourself that the brand you are spreading shares the same focus across all platforms. Make sure you have the same goals with your personal brand. And ensure your message remains the same.
Having a personal brand that varies on your website and on social media accounts casts doubt on your story. Potential customers begin wondering if you are actually qualified. Or they question the experience you’re offering. Basically, they stop trusting you and your brand.
This is why consistency is so important. It strengthens your brand. In turn, you find brand building more successful and gain more potential customers.
Stay Open to Failure
No one likes failing. It makes us feel miserable and leads to a hefty amount of negative self-talk. Unfortunately, failure is a part of life. And we can’t live in a way where we constantly try avoiding failure.
The same is true when you build a personal brand. Not every brand works out. Sometimes you get the focus wrong. Maybe you weren’t being genuine enough. Perhaps you even discovered a lack of consistency in your branding. Either way, your attempt at personal branding didn’t work out.
That’s okay!
Don’t let failure keep you from moving forward. Look at what didn’t work and change that for your next branding attempt. That’s how you create immensely strong personal brands.
I went through several iterations of a personal brand before even getting to one I felt was worth sharing. Each time I noticed things that didn’t work. Usually in regards to me not being genuine with my branding ideas or having too broad of a focus. Those didn’t keep me from moving forward and trying again, though.
Adjust your personal brand, give it an honest shot, and be truthful with yourself about its weaknesses. Failure is how we learn. It is not a reflection of who we are.
Spreading Your Brand
You’ve got a personal brand in mind. And you feel confident about the information and skills it portrays. The next step is getting it out there!
There are tons of methods for sharing your personal brand. For freelance writing, a personal website and social media platforms are the predominant forms. Through these, you share different types of content that keep in line with your brand. You also share your brand via things like website colors and design.
You want sharing methods that fit the brand you have. For instance, if your personal brand does not target audiences who frequently use social media, don’t use them. Share your brand in places that your target audience finds appealing.